I'll be there for you
by darksapphire-flame
Summary: HIATUS. Haruno Sakura's parent's get murdered one day by Orichimaru or so the Hokage suspects. So for Sakura's protection she asigns team 7 and Hyuuga Neji to live with her. Find how Sakura survives going through the toughest time of her life along with
1. Default Chapter

  
A/N: This is my first story so have mercy on me. 

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto or any of the character though I wish I did.

Chapter 1 

A 15-year-old girl was running around happily. She had long, silky pink hair and huge innocent faded green eyes. Her skin color was creamy white making her look like she just stepped out of a fairy tale. Her name was Haruno Sakura.

She opened her house door filled with happiness. She couldn't wait to tell her parents the great news.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home. You won't believe what happened today," She shouted as she entered her deadly silent house. She didn't see her parents in the kitchen or the living room, which was pretty unusual because they were usually there when she got home from her mission.

"

Where are you guys," she shouted once again, panicking a little.

Still no answer.

"They are probably in the bedroom or something. I'm freaking out for no reason,"

she reassured herself, trying to stay calm. Her parents would have told her if they were going on a mission. She rushed upstairs to her parent's bedroom. Something just didn't feel right.

She opened the door and her eyes went wide with horror at what she saw. Her parents were in a bloody mess. They were brutally injured and cut in many places.

"N-no way." She cried out in horror as she ran up to her parent's bodies.

"Mom, dad please tell me who did this to you," she sobbed.

'S-Sakura, I'm so glad you are okay. B-but you h-have to get away from here. He'll kill you if you don't. You've to live," her mom gasped painfully.

"I-I 'm so s-sorry we can't be there for you. I don't want you to go through this alone," her father whispered brokenly.

" Don't say that, just don't. I won't accept it. I'm going to find a way for you to live. I won't just watch you die without doing anything to prevent it," she whispered desperately,

her voice filled with emotion. She ran out of the house as fast as she could towards the hokage's office.

She entered Tsunde-sama's office gasping for air.

"Hokage-sama you've to come quickly with me," she said in a panicked voice.

"What's the matter Sakura. Calm down," Tsunde-sama said obviously surprised to see Sakura at this time of night.

" Please come with me. I'll explain on the way," she pleaded.

" Sure, just lead the way."

While they were on their way, Sakura explained what happened. They hurriedly entered the house and rushed to her parent's bedroom. The hokage went up to her parents, and checked their pulse but unfortunately for them there was none.

" Sakura, I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do now. They are gone," Tsunde-sama said sorrowfully. Her parent's were one of the elite ninjas of the leaf village.

Sakura sank to the floor overcome by depression. Memories of her and her parents ran trough her mind like hurricane. Life just wasn't fair.

"Don't cry, it's okay." Tsunde reassuringly as she hugged her. There was nothing else she could say.

" It's not fair. They didn't deserve to die like that," Sakura hiccuped.

"No on does but that's how life is. Let's get you to my house," tsunde said softly, knowing well how Sakura felt now since she had lost her brother and her lover.

The Hokage took Sakura to her home and let her stay the night. She informed everyone about what had happened and told them that the funeral was going to be held tomorrow afternoon.

At the funeral

Everyone was there. Sakura was standing next to her team, wearing a simple black shirt and a knee length skirt. Her eyes were red from crying all night but she had vowed herself that she wouldn't cry at the funeral but that didn't stop the tears from rushing down her face when the Hokage started her speech. She felt, as she was utterly weak and helpless, she didn't even know who had killed her parents. And even if she did there was nothing she could do about it.

Suddenly she felt someone put an arm around her shoulder and pulls her in a hug. She looked up to see that it was naruto.

"It's okay Sakura-chan. everything will be alright. We are all here for you,"he whispered. She couldn't help but cry. Over the years naruto had lost his crush on her and had started dating Hinata. He was one of her best friends.

Sasuke felt a little envious watching the two hug like that. Maybe it was because he wasn't the one hugging her or maybe it was because when his clan was killed there was no one there to tell him that everything was going to be all right. Maybe that's why I act so emotionless. Sasuke quickly discarded these thoughts.

_This is no time for me to get sentimental but still it must be hard on her._

After the funeral ended, Sakura decided to stay even though her friends wanted for her to come along with them and not be alone. She went up to her parent's grave.

"I never really realized how lonely it is without having you guys around. Now I know how Naruto and Sasuke must feel. I just don't know what to do any more. I feel so alone" She was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see that it was Kakashi-sensei.

"Sakura, don't ever think you are alone because me, naruto and believe it or not even sasuke are always here for you when you need us. So don't ever think that." He said.

"Thanks, Kaka-sensei. I really needed that." She said with a real smile. Sometimes she forgot how great her sensei was.

"Anytime. Now lets go, the hokage is waiting for us." He said guiding her to the hokage's office.

As she entered the office, she found out that naruto and sasuke were already there along wit Hyuga Neji. She quickly sat between Neji and Sasuke.

_What's neji doing here?_ She thought a little surprised to see him there.

" Now that all of you are here, let's get started. As you are all aware that Sakura would be living alone from now on but because she might be in danger, I don't want her living alone. So I've assigned Neji, Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi to live with her. This is your next mission. All of you are dismissed except Kakashi." The hokage finished off leaving no room for arguments.

Everyone just stared at her in shock except for Kakashi.

Chap end

A/N: I know it's a little OOC but spare with me. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Don't forget to review.


	2. Sad eyes

CHAPTER 2: SAD EYES 

A/N: I'm so sorry, I haven't updated in such a long time. Pls forgive. I had the chapter written down but I was too lazy to actually type it.

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me.

Kakashi eyed the Hokage curiously. He didn't get why all four of them had to live with Sakura; even one of them would have been enough.

" I know you are wondering, why you people are supposed to live with her but there is a reason for it," the Hokage started.

"I figured that much out," Kakashi said.

"And a very valid reason indeed. I suspect that Orichimaru might be behind the murder of Sakura's parents," Tsunde continued.

"And why is that," He asked puzzled due to the fact that Orichimaru had no connection to Sakura what so ever.

"Because he was trying to lure Sasuke by using Sakura as a bait, unfortunately for him her parent's got in the way and were sadly killed." Tsunde explained.

"I see. Thanks for informing me but I should leave before naruto and sasuke get in a fight." Kakashi said and left.

Sakura felt a lot better since her talk with Kakashi sensei, but that didn't mean that she was over it. She could never be able to get over something this big. It's her parent's they were talking about for god's sake. They were the people who were always there for her since she was a little girl. How could she forget them so easily? But she didn't want to show people that she was so weak that she couldn't even control her own emotions. She wanted to prove to her team more than anyone, that she was strong, that she could smile even when she was going through hell. She wouldn't let anyone see her cry. This was her time to prove that she could handle herself, without depending on anyone. She smiled faintly, knowing Naruto would probably be against this idea but she needed some self security that she could survive alone.

_What the hell is she smiling about?_ Neji and Sasuke thought, not missing her faint smile.

"Hey, Sakura-chan isn't it strange, how all of us are supposed to live with you, not that I mind." Naruto asked for once serious in his life.

"Yeah it is," Sakura answered. No matter how strange it was, she had other bigger problems at her hand. How in the hell would she be able to live with four guys in her house? She only had a small house with two bedrooms in her house, a living room and a bathroom. The two bedrooms and bathroom were upstairs and the living room and kitchen were downstairs. Her parent's and her were never really home so they didn't see any point in buying a huge house. She felt a pang of hurt at the thought that someone else besides her parents would be living in their bedroom. She quickly discarded the hurt, trying to keep herself from getting emotional in front of her teammates. Moving on to other problems, someone would have to share a room with her. Sakura was abdruptly interrupted out of her thoughts when Kakashi-sensei came back.

" Okay, Listen up people, I want you to go home and pack whatever you need, and meet me here in three hours. Take in consideration that we don't know how long we will be living with Sakura. One more thing, Don't be late." Kakashi explained and disappeared in smoke.

Naruto and Sakura sweatdropped, knowing him, he would be the one late.

THREE HOURS LATER

All of them were now seated in Sakura's living room.

"Okay, my parent's room is big enough for three people, so one of you would have to room with me," Sakura finished the last part quickly.

_What's wrong with me? I have roomed with guys tons of time, so why am I so nervous? _She thought frustrated.

" You guys can decide whom while I get a drink," she said nervously, and was about to leave when Neji spoke up.

" I'll room with you," he said indifferently.

To say they were shocked was an understatement, their mouth's were literally hanging open, including sasuke's. They looked at Neji, like he had grown an other head or two.

" What? Is there a problem with what I said?" Neji snapped irritated by their gaze.

_Hell yeah, you damned Hyuuga. _Sasuke thought angrily. What he didn't understand was why he was so irritated at Neji; it's not like he cared what Sakura did.

"No, not at all Neji-san," Sakura said with a little smile, recovering from her shock. If it was two years ago she would've have been dying to room with sasuke but now she didn't care. Not that she didn't like him; she just became less obvious about it. During the years she had come to realize that the less she flirted with Sasuke, the less annoyed he was with her. Upon this realization she started to concentrate more on her training and to her surprise sasuke actually started to treat her with respect.

"Why don't I show you your room, so you can settle in." Sakura said and led the way. They went upstairs and entered a spacious room with two beds, two side tables with a lamp and a walk in closet.

"Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi sensei this is your room. One of you would have to sleep on the floor. I'll bring the futon bed later. If you guys need any thing don't hesitate to ask me," Sakura explained.

"Any questions?" She asked.

"Sakura-chan where's…" Naruto started but was quickly cut off by sakura.

"Naruto the ramen is on the top first cupboard on the right in the kitchen," Sakura answered, knowing full well what her teammate was going to ask.

"Thanks Sakura-chan." Naruto said happily. As long as he had ramen he was happy.

" I'll leave you guys to settle in," she said.

"Neji-san please come with me," she asked politely before exiting the room. Neji quickly followed her into her room. He would have imagined her room to be pink but was surprised to find it was an elegant shade of creamy white. The wall was creamy white; the carpet and curtains were beige. It was a fairly large and simple room but none the less unique. There was a bed against the wall along with a dresser next to it. There was a door next to the window that led to the balcony

connected to Sakura's and her team's room.

Sakura put the futon bed that she had brought while Neji was looking around, on the floor.

"Thanks,"Neji said not looking up.

"Ur, You're welcome. Well I'm going downstairs to cook dinner. If you need anything just call me." She said and left.

While in the next room naruto and sasuke were still trying to decide who was taking the bed because Kakashi had already taken one of the beds. They played rock, paper and scissors. Unfortunately for naruto he lost.

"Ugh, this is so unfair." Naruto whined.

"Deal with it, Dobe." Sasuke smirked. Even though they were best friends, they still didn't give up their rivalry.

"Shut up, Sasuke-bastard." Naruto glowered angrily.

"Whatever" Sasuke put his clothes in the closet and was about to sit down when he noticed a picture on the side table. He picked it up and sat down on the bed. It showed a picture of a man and woman with a 9-year-old girl. The man had his arm draped around the woman's shoulder and both of them were smiling happily but the little girl had her head bowed down and she had a sad look in her eyes. He guessed it was Sakura since she had pink hair and green eyes. It was hard to believe that this girl was Sakura because the Sakura he knew always looked happy and never did he see her sad.

"Hard to believe that's Sakura isn't it," Kakashi commented.

"Hn"

" When Sakura was little she was very self conscious about her forehead because everyone used to bully her about it, but then Ino came and her helped her realize that it didn't matter what people thought. When they realized both of them liked you, Sakura broke off their friendship. But in the end I guess both of them gave up on you." Kakashi finished of lazily.

"Personally, I think it was a futile cause breaking their friendship over you because neither of them gained your affection. Don't you think so." Kakashi smirked.

"Yeah…it was futile." Sasuke hesitated. Was it really? He questioned, doubting himself.

CHAPTER End.

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. I know the character are OOC, but pls bare with me. I'll try to update as soon as possible. Don't forget to review.


	3. Shower Incidents

CHAPTER 3: SHOWER INCIDENTS

The next morning Sakura woke up tired from yesterday's events. So much had happened in such a short period of time. Her parents getting murdered and then her team living with her along with Neji. What surprised her the most was Neji volunteering to share a room with her but then again Neji was always full of surprises. She was a little nervous when nighttime came because she wasn't used to having a guy sleeping practically next to her (except he was on the floor). But fortunately for her, Neji being the quiet person he was didn't say anything to her while they were getting ready to go to bed. And before she knew it she fell asleep lulled by Neji's soft rhythmic breathing.

_Though I have to admit, he looked pretty hot in his sleeping attire. With a loose tank top (which by the way showed his lean muscular body) and a pair of loose fitting trousers. Along with his hair down and his Hatai band gone, I could pretty much understand why a huge female population of konoha is after him. _Quickly brushing the thought aside she got out of bed. Near her, Neji was still sleeping with an expression of innocence upon his face that you would never ever see when he was awake. She tiptoed quietly across the room towards the door careful not to wake Neji up.

Still in her sleeping attire, which consisted of a white tank top and black trousers, she slightly opened the door to her team's room to see if anyone was awake, just to find out that everyone was a sleep. Taking that as an opportunity to hog the washroom, she quickly grabbed some fresh clothes from the laundry and entered the shower not realizing that she hadn't locked the door to washroom, since she was so used to being alone at her house in the morning.

Neji opened his eyes, trying to get rid off the sleep that was consuming him. He checked the time to see that it was 8:00. He got out of bed and opened the closet taking his training gear out, unaware of the fact that he wasn't in his own house. He walked tiredly towards the washroom not hearing the sound of the shower on. He didn't know what was wrong him but maybe it was because yesterday he trained in the cold with only a T-shirt and shorts on. Still not realizing that someone was occupying the washroom he opened the door and then his eyes widened in shock to find that Sakura was standing under shower. She turned her face around to find that a very red Neji was standing 1 meter away from her.

"AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHHH," she screamed loudly as the realization hit her. She grabbed the nearest object in front of her, which happened to be her new shampoo bottle, and threw it straight at Neji's head. Unfortunately, Neji still in shock wasn't able to dodge the object that was coming hurtling at him and was hit right on his forehead.

Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi were woken out of their sleep as they heard Sakura's loud scream, thinking she was attacked by an enemy they rushed towards where her voice was coming from, which happened to be the washroom. They were stopped abruptly in their tracks to find Neji lying unconscious on the washroom floor.

As their eyes traveled further up, there stood Sakura trying to hide her nude body behind the shower curtain, which wasn't helping much. By now all of their faces were completely red (even Sasuke's). But before they could comprehend what was really happening they were hit by three hurtling objects coming straight at them.

At Breakfast

Everyone was sitting on the dining table in the kitchen with huge lumps on their forehead, while Sakura was getting things ready for breakfast.

"Yo Neji, What happened?" Naruto whispered trying to keep his voice low so that Sakura couldn't hear him. Because if she did, she would be more pissed than she already was.

"Shut up," Neji lashed, trying very hard to keep his temper in control. He never wanted to talk about this incident ever again. If he ever said he was embarrassed he was lying, because nothing could compare to the embarrassment that he suffered today. For god's sake, he was supposed to be one of leaf's strongest ninja and he couldn't even hear even hear the damn shower on. And more than that, he couldn't even dodge the damned shampoo bottle coming straight at him, just because he was too distracted by the sight of Sakura's body in front him. Neji colored slightly at the thought.

"I'll tell you what the hell happened. Neji walked in the washroom when I was taking a stupid shower," Sakura literally yelled. She had never been so embarrassed in her whole life. Neji saw her naked including Naruto, Kakashi-sensei and even Sasuke. She thought she was going to die right at the spot, when she saw her team's gaping faces staring at her body.

"It's not my fault that you didn't close the f door." Neji yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

"Well excuse me, were you deaf or something that you couldn't even hear the shower on?" Sakura yelled back.

Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi just sweatdropped, wondering how the hell they got into this mess.

Naruto and Kakashi just watched them argue, knowing if they interfered they would be made into shish kebabs by Sakura. Sakura was really strong and scary when she was angry. Both Naruto and Kakashi gulped in fear, as they had first hand experience of Sakura's temper.

On the other hand, Sasuke was getting really annoyed. He did not have a very good morning considering as they walked in on Sakura when she having a shower and then get hit by her. He forced down a blush as a picture of naked Sakura popped in his head.

_Damn it, when did I turn into a hentai._ Sasuke screamed mentally. Moving on, he would rather be training or whatever the hell he did at this time, than be watching those two swearing at each other. It had been atleast 20 minutes since they started this little escapade and it was really started to get on his nerves. It just goes to show even the Hyuuga could loose his cool act when he was really pissed off or embarrassed. He was guessing it was the latter. But now it was time to end this little swearing session.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, BOTH OF YOU," Sasuke screamed as loud as he could. Everyone just went silent staring at him wide eyed.

"Now that this is over, I'm going to train." And with that said and done he stormed off.

"Me too," Neji said impassively like nothing had happened and left as well.

"Well now that the show is over, Can I please have some breakfast?" Kakashi said hungrily.

"Oh I'm sorry, I guess I was too caught up in the argument." Sakura apologized. Suddenly she remembered something concerning her parent's murder that she had been meaning to ask Kakashi-sensei since yesterday.

"Kakashi-sensei." She spoke with a doubtful tone, trying to decide to whether ask him or not.

"Yes, what is it Sakura?"

"Can I talk to you after breakfast?"

"Why, Is there something wrong?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He was sure that whatever she wanted to talk about concerned her parent's death. He was getting a bad feeling about this. What if she somehow found out about Orichimaru? How would she react towards Sasuke if she knew? Knowing he was the cause of her parent's murder. Maybe he was just over reacting, after all she just wanted to talk to him.

"No. I just wanted to talk to you." She said trying not to sound suspicious. She knew that kakashi-sensei had information about her parent's murderer and she was going to find out no matter.

CHAPTER 3 END 

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I would like to thank anyone who reviewed my story. Please keep reviewing.


	4. Misunderstandings

A/N: I'm sooooooo sorry, I haven't updated in such a long time but it's hard with school and everything. I envy those people who update fast unlike me. Hope u like this chapter and thanks to anyone who reviewed.

Chapter 4: Misunderstandings

"So, Sakura what did you want to talk about?

"Well…." Sakura hesitated, wondering once again whether she should ask him or not.

"Is there something wrong?" Kakashi questioned, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Kakashi-sensei, I was wondering if you had a hunch about who it is that murdered my parents," She said straightforwardly. She knew he wasn't going to tell her but it was better than not trying at all. She had to know who murdered her parents; she owed them at least that much.

" Right now it's too early to say anything but we might be able to know something by next week or later," Kakashi replied, his face rid of any emotions that might give a hint that he was lying. He was usually a very straightforward person but with Sakura, he didn't think she was ready to handle the truth yet. It wasn't that he thought that she wasn't strong enough but if he told her that Orichimaru murdered her parents because of Sasuke, she wouldn't blame him. Instead she would just blame herself for ever thinking about Sasuke like that. He knew her feelings for Sasuke still lingered strongly but she just hid them well now. He didn't think that she would ever stop loving him, no matter how hurt she got in the process.

_But I really hope that someday she would get over him and find someone who deserved her undying love._ Kakashi hoped. It wasn't that he thought that Sasuke didn't deserve her but he was just too stupid to acknowledge her. Sasuke knew she loved him with all her heart but instead of valuing it he chose to see it as a hindrance in his way of revenge. Truthfully, Sasuke was just letting Itachi control his life.

"Oh," Sakura sighed somewhat disappointed. Somehow she was glad that he didn't tell. Maybe it was because she was scared to know the answer. Scared to know whom the murderer was. Scared that maybe her suspicions were correct, that Orichimaru was the murderer but that just didn't make sense. What would Orichimaru want with her parents? They didn't have a special bloodline nor did Orichimaru have a grudge against them. So, she just discarded that thought but there was still a lingering feeling that it had something to do with Orichimaru. Sakura ignored those thoughts.

"Is there something else you still want to talk about?"

"No, that was it."

"Well than I'm going over to the bookstore to buy the new volume of Come Come Paradise. Wanna come along?'

"Sure but don't you ever get sick of that perverted book?"

"Nope."

Sakura sweatdropped, no matter what situation they were in, Kakashi-sensei still managed to read that perverted book.

Punch. Kick. Duck. Side kick. Dodge. Kick. Punch. Kick. Duck. Side kick. Dodge. Kick. Punch. Duck.

Right now both Neji and Sasuke were in a heated sparring match. Both trying to out do each other but niether could since both of them were too evenly matched. Neji ducked, as Sasuke was about to kick his face and slammed his fist in Sasuke stomach. Sasuke a little surprised by this staggered back slightly but didn't let that stop him from punching Neji's face.

Sasuke noticed that Neji was slow on his guard took a kunai out and stabbed it in Neji's stomach causing Neji to double over in pain. Considering that he was sick didn't help his situation either. Neji not one to give up a fight charged forward at Sasuke and elbowed him in the stomach, than taking a kunai out stabbed him in the arm.

Both of them drew back panting heavily. Both of them were bleeding and bruised in several places and their clothes were torn as well. Sasuke and Neji glared at each other. Sasuke walked closer to Neji and stopped when he was a couple of centimeters away from him.

"Don't you dare come near Sakura," Sasuke hissed venomously, his eyes flashed angrily. Okay, What the hell was wrong him? He didn't care if Neji was near her, he didn't care if he kissed her and he definitely didn't care if she loved and kissed him back. But than why the hell was he getting pissed just thinking about it.

_Stop thinking that way, idiot. You claim that you don't love her than stick to that claim. Don't go acting like a stupid jealous freak over some stupid pink-hair girl, just because some stupid long hair Hyuuga walked in on her when she was taking a shower. Hey, are you listening to me you black-haired freak._ Sasuke's inner voice yelled. But right now Sasuke's mouth was listening to his heart rather than his mind.

"Jealous are we now, Uchiha?" Neji smirked slightly. Somehow he just knew that the fight was over Sakura.

Hey, you weren't supposed to say that, you dolt. You were supposed to say, "I don't give a damn about that girl". His inner voice yelled as well. But chose to Neji ignored it.

"Shut up," Sasuke lashed out and left Neji alone, trying to refrain himself from ripping the Hyuuga's mouth off. Something was definitely very wrong with him and he was going to do whatever he could to fix it. He never really cared if some guy was near Sakura before but he didn't know why he did now. Maybe it was because now she didn't ask him out on dates, call him Sasuke-kun or pay that much attention to him anymore. She didn't even ignore Lee's flirtatious attempts on her anymore; instead she would actually smile and laugh with him. It was true that he was jealous of Neji, Lee and any other guy who took her attention but that didn't mean her loved her.

Neji sighed tiredly. He just didn't get Uchiha, he claimed that he didn't care about Sakura and only wanted revenge on his brother. You are probably wondering how he knew this, well after the chunnin exam Naruto and him actually became friends and one day he told him all about Uchiha. If you asked him, Sasuke was just throwing his whole life away trying to get revenge.

Back to the subject, If he didn't care about Sakura than why the hell was he threatening him, just because he walked in on her when she was taking a shower.

"I better head home," Neji said to himself as dark clouds started to form above. Sometimes he wondered how he would have dealt with having all his clan murdered if he was in Sasuke's place.

But I guess it was his destiny to have his clan murdered by his own brother like it was my destiny to be a member of the branch family. Neji contemplated. He no longer held a grudge against his uncle but the bitterness of not being able to be free still remained like the fresh stench of blood during wars and battles. He shook his head slightly trying to forget about his problems and started heading towards the direction of Sakura's house.

He finally reached his current residence and entered the house. He took off his shoes and placed them on the shoe rack next to Sasuke's which was the only pair of shoes there. It seemed like no one was home except Sasuke, who was probably brooding in his room. Not having Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto at home was a good thing because than he wouldn't have to explain his injuries to them not that he was going to tell them even if they asked. He quickly went upstairs to the room he was currently occupying.

Neji suddenly felt a sharp stab of pain pierce through his stomach. He had completely forgotten about that wound he had received when Sasuke stabbed him with his kunai. And at that exact same moment Sakura and Kakashi chose to enter the house.

"We're home," Sakura yelled.

"Seems like only Sasuke and Neji are home. Hope they didn't kill each other." Kakashi commented. He could tell that Sasuke and Neji didn't like each other.

"I guess you are right. I'll just go to my room to put away the new kunais that I bought." Sakura said. She went upstairs and entered her room. She gasped as she saw Neji sitting on the bed with blood oozing out of his abdomen.

"Oh my god, Neji-san what happened?'

"Nothing," Neji quickly turned away not wanting her to look at the wound.

"Can I please have a look at it?"

"No"

"I'm serious. You know I'm a medic-nin so I can make the healing process faster. And any ways you would have to go to the doctor's if you aren't comfortable with me checking it." Sakura explained worried about her roommate. Who did this to him was what she was wondering about.

"Fine"

"What!" she said surprised. She didn't think he would give in that easily.

"Are you deaf? I said you could check the wound. And any ways aren't you still mad at me for walking in on you this morning." Neji grumbled. Something about the girl annoyed the hell out of him; maybe it was that he couldn't act like a cold-hearted bastard around her.

"Not really, it was partially my fault for not locking the door. And well I wanted to apologize to you for hitting you with a shampoo bottle." Sakura apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"It's okay and I'm…sorry too," Neji apologized as well, with a hint of hesitation. He wasn't used to apologizing to people.

"Oh, don't mention it. Let's check your wound now shall we." She quickly brushed aside his apology and moved onto the harder part, checking his wound, which meant he would have to take his shirt off.

"Can you please take off your shirt?" She asked meekly.

"Okay." He said like it was no big deal and took of his shirt. Sakura felt her face blush up to twenty different shades of red, as she found her eyes travelling up to his well-toned torso. He wasn't bulky, niether was he too skinny, he was just perfect. But the bloody wound on his pale abdomen stood out like a black spot on a white sheet. Sakura hoped Neji didn't notice how red her face was and quickly got up from the bed.

"I'll get some water to clean your wounds and some bandages and alcohol," Sakura said blushing, facing Neji.

Not noticing Neji's shirt on the wooden floor she stepped on it. She was about to fall backwards when Neji grabbed her wrist, his bleeding wound completely forgotten. But then Neji started to feel dizzy because of the blood loss and fever, which caused his grip to loosen on Sakura wrist. This was all it took for Sakura to fall down and Neji to fall on top of her.

"Oohh," Sakura moaned in pain. But when she realized that Neji's lips were only a couple of millimeter away from hers, she completely forgot about the pain. She could feel his hot breath on her face, causing her to blush more than she already was.

Leave it to me to get stuck in the most awkward positions. Sakura cursed mentally.

"Are you alright?" Neji whispered, concerned about his female companion who was currently underneath him, her face cherry red. Maybe she was catching his sickness.

"Y-Y-Yeah," She stammered because of the closeness between them.

Sasuke looked at his bleeding arm. That damned Hyuuga really did a number on him. Maybe he could ask Sakura for some bandages and some medicine. After all she was a medic-nin. Suddenly he heard moaning noises from Sakura's room. He left his room to see if she was alright and by chance get some bandages as well. He opened the door that led to Sakura's room.

"Hey, Sakura are you –" Sasuke couldn't finish what he was saying as he saw Sakura and Neji lying on top of each other. Did he mention on TOP OF EACHOTHER. All he could do was gape at them with his eyes widened.

How could she do this to me? After all those years she claimed she loved me. This was all that ran through his mind.

**CHAPTER 4 END**

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. I know my story isn't great especially the fighting scenes but I'm working on it. Please review and constructive criticism is always welcome. Ja'ne.


	5. Over reactions

Chapter 5 

"How could you?" Sasuke whispered. He wasn't supposed to feel this way because he didn't love her. He didn't care if she was with another guy but than why was he so hurt and jealous when he did see her with Neji. He hated feeling emotional but what he hated the most was that he couldn't keep his emotionless façade around her anymore.

"Sasuke," Sakura gasped out in horror. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. She knew how the position that Neji and her were in looked to Sasuke. He probably thought they were doing something blush . She quickly fought down the blush, knowing this was no time for this kind stuff. Neji slowly slid off Sakura even with his bleeding wound. The look on Sasuke's face told him that he was taking his and Sakura's position in another sort of way. Sakura quickly sat up, with a quick look off thanks towards Neji she proceeded towards Sasuke.

"Umm Sasuke, Did you need something?" Sakura said nervously, not knowing what else to say. _I don't think I should have said that._

"I did but it seems that you are very busy, so I'll try not to waste any more of your precious time and leave." Sasuke's voice deadly calm to an extent that it was scary, yet his onyx eyes burning with a fire that seemed to ignite more and more as he looked at Sakura.

"Sasuke, It's not what it looked like." Sakura pleaded desperately, trying to make him understand but Sasuke was already out of the door by than. Sakura quickly followed him out of the door unaware of Neji who followed her out as well while putting on his shirt.

"Sasuke, Please wait. Let me explain" She begged. Sasuke stopped but never faced her. Sakura breathed heavily in before she started explaining.

"Well, I was getting bandages for Neji's wound when I slipped and was about to fall down when Neji just happened to grab my wrist but because of the wound, his grip loosened causing me to fall down which in result caused him to fall on top of me. And that's when you-" Sakura was cut off by Sasuke.

_Well he'll surely understand now by the way she's explaining._ Neji thought sarcastically. No wonder he wasn't involved in any sort of commitment. Your partner jumps to conclusions easily, because of the jealousy streak they have in them. They don't listen to you and because of some stupid misunderstanding they ruin their own life along with yours. But this situation shouldn't have been any problem since Sakura and Sasuke weren't in any sort of relationship to begin with but it was starting to seem like that Sasuke was beginning to like Sakura. _Last time I checked I was an expert on destiny not love and relationships. And since when did I care about what sort of relationship Sasuke and Sakura were in. I've only been living with this team for two days and my life is already starting to get screwed up. And any ways I'm starting to talk more than I normally do which by my standards isn't good. _Neji was interuppted out of his thoughts by Sasuke's voice.

"SHUT UP"

"Sasuke,"

"You expect me to believe that."

"Sasuke, just-"

"Don't Sasuke me. I should've known you were just like the rest of those sluts who would go after any good-looking guy who paid them just a little bit of attention. Believe it or not I actually believed all that bull of you wanting to stay by my side and rest of the crap you always babbled about. And what I find even more ironic is that your parent's death didn't even seem to effect you at all. You're still acting like the friggin happy-go-lucky person you are. Damn it. What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you feel any remorse or sadness?" By this time Sasuke was yelling furiously. But before he knew what was happening, Sakura had come over to him and slapped him hard. He slowly brought a hand towards his now swollen red cheek and stared at her in an utter expression of shock. There were tears coming out her eyes making their way down her face.

"How dare-"

"How dare you? That's what you were gonna say wasn't it. But shouldn't I be asking you that same thing. How dare you stand there and accuse me of not feeling sadness after my parent's death? How dare you accuse me of being a slut when all I did was start paying less attention to you and more to the people who actually care about me? You are probably the biggest hypocrite I know because from what I remember you were the one who called me annoying, weak and pathetic all that time but I still cared for you, loved you and cherished every single moment with you. Yet you still pushed me away. And you know what maybe deep down I still do love you because if you haven't noticed there are way nicer guys out there who I could date but I don't. So I'd say you are the one who is shallow, not me. And let me tell you one thing Uchiha Sasuke, if I don't act cold and distant like you because of my family's death and just smile, it only means I'm stronger than you. Stronger in a sense that I can smile even when I'm going through hell unlike you who pushes people away and acts like a complete bastard." Sakura voiced out calmly, never letting her voice waver despite the tears streaming down her face. With a last look at Sasuke's face she went down the stairs and left the house, the way she came in just a few minutes ago before the disastrous event.

"Well, I'd say that went pretty well, Uchiha," Neji commented sarcastically. Life was already turning overly dramatic in this house. _Atleast I've live entertainment now._ Neji sighed. But seriously, Sasuke definitely over-reacted but atleast Sakura set him straight. He was definitely shocked when she slapped and even more when she told him off. He never thought that she would ever do anything against Sasuke but she proved him wrong.

While on the other side, Sasuke was still too shocked to snap back at Neji. He still couldn't believe that she actually SLAPPED him. But his now swollen cheek told him otherwise. Maybe he over-reacted just a little by calling her a slut and not feeling sad and whatever other crap he said to her. Ok maybe not. He over-reacted a lot even though she told him the truth about why having Neji on top of her and did he mention about his lips very close to Sakura's. This was his entire fault. It's not like they were in a relationship in which he had the right to jump to conclusions and accuse her for cheating or something. They were merely friends and nothing more. Repeat NOTHING MORE. Too bad he just realized that right now.

_What the hell am I going to do now?_ Sasuke thought helplessly. He wasn't acting like himself but who would after making a fool out of himself by acting like an over-reactive jealous jerk.

Naruto ran up the stairs to see what had happened that made Sakura storm out like that. All he heard was Sasuke yelling about something. He thought he was probably arguing with Neji. But than he heard Sakura saying something calmly which made him slightly worried. Before he could comprehend what was happening Sakura had stormed out the door. If Sasuke or Neji had upset her he was gonna kick their ass. After all she had just suffered a major loss, so he didn't want to see her upset because of some idiot who was just too insensitive towards her.

"Would someone please tell me why Sakura stormed out like that?" Naruto asked, his expression slightly worried.

"You can ask that idiot over there," Neji pointed at Sasuke and left the two rivals alone by leaving the house and going god knows where.

"SASUKE-BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO TO SAKURA-CHAN!" You could hear Naruto yelling all through the village.

Sakura was sitting by the side of the lake staring idly at her tear-strained reflection in the water. She just happened to be in the park where Sasuke first called her annoying. She could still clearly him say.

'You're annoying'

How many times had she felt this way before? She wondered. It seems whenever Sasuke was around she somehow always got hurt. He was the only one who could hurt her this much. Maybe it was her that was the problem of their one-sided fights (Sasuke snapping at her and she listening to him). Or maybe it was just his uncaring and cold personality. Either way she couldn't really tell because most of the time it seemed to be the both.

But this time the hurt caused by his harsh words was too much. All she was trying to do was to appear strong before her teammates so they wouldn't be worried but that bastard thought she was happy. How could he think so selfishly? Wasn't he the one who wanted her to be strong not weak? But most of all how could he be so shallow as to think that she would have sexual affairs with guys just because he didn't pay attention to her. Just thinking about it made her wanna slap him again. She could feel her body tremble with sobs that she had tried to hold back for the past few minutes.

SHE HATED HIM. SHE DESPISED HIM. HOW COULD HE THINK SO LOW OF HER!

Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her, she turned around to see that it was……………………

CHAPTER END.


	6. Comforting

A/N: I'm really sorry if chapter 5 was crappy but fear not I'll try to make this chap a little better or atleast I hope. And thanks to anyone who reviewed.

CHAPTER 6

She turned around to see that it was Kakashi-sensei that had dared to scare the hell out of her. She quickly wiped her tears away not wanting him to see her in such a pathetic state.

"Ah, I knew I'd find you here."

"Do you need something Sensei?" Sakura's voice strangely calm and slightly icy, hoping he would take the hint and leave her alone. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now. Her emotions were in such a stray of confusion that she didn't even know what to do, kill the source of her stress (Sasuke) or to talk to her sensei politely trying not to blow up and cry.

"In fact, I do. Would you tell me what happened?" Kakashi asked rather obliviously. In fact, he knew what happened but he just wanted to know from Sakura's view.

"Nothing."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"No, I expect you to leave it at that and leave me alone."

"Sorry, no, can't do." He knew he was pushing her at the edge but that was the whole point.

"Kakashi-sensei." Her voice threatening, yet cracking slightly.

"Yes, Sakura-chan." She was so cute when she was about to yell her head off at him.

sob

Maybe he over did it.

"Sakura, Are you-" Suddenly he was cut-off as he felt Sakura flung her arms around his waist and bury her face in his green vest, sobbing uncontrollably. Kakashi slowly with uncertainty brought his arms around her small sobbing frame. He wasn't particularly good in the comforting people department.

"No, I'm not alright." Sakura's muffled voice came out.

"Care to tell me."

"I can't handle this anymore. Everything is happening too fast for me to actually grasp the fact that my parents are dead and I'm going to be alone without their support. I thought I could handle being strong enough not to worry other people about me but I'm not like Naruto and Sasuke. They have seen the harsher side of life but I've always been sheltered and protected by my parents, even when I became a chuunin. It's just too much." She sobbed.

"Sakura, it's okay if you can't handle this on your own. We don't expect you to. I don't expect you to. You have to understand that being strong doesn't mean shutting out your emotions, that only causes you to become distant and cold, just like Sasuke. Though I don't agree with the way he acts but I can pretty much guess why. It's because when his clan was murdered there was no one to support or comfort him. But you have so many people there for you so I think you should tell someone your feelings instead of keeping them cooped inside because that will only cause an emotional breakdown."

"You're right. But…" She stopped.

"Go on."

A soft sigh escaped her lips.

"Sasuke really hurt me this time. I mean why can't he for once consider my feelings. Is that too much to ask? He calls me annoying and weak but when I try to be strong he accuses me of not getting effected by my parent's death. When I used to hang all over him he would snap at me and now that I don't he accuses me of being a slut. I just don't know what he expects from me." A bitter laugh escaped her lips. A sound that wasn't fitting for the cherry blossom girl.

"I don't think that he does that on purpose now atleast. Maybe it's just because he's jealous that you pay more attention to other guys rather than him. Or so I think." He was definitely not good at comforting.

"Could've told you that long time ago," She muttered under her breath. She was beginning to feel slightly better now.

"Let's just get off this topic." Suddenly something hit her. She was still hugging Kakashi-sensei and he was hugging her back. She let go getting embarrassed. She didn't mind hugging him, in fact it made her feel better. But remembering that her sensei happened to be one of the hottest males among the women of Konoha and if they saw her with him they would eat her alive.

"Is there something wrong?"

"You could've let go of me you know."

"I couldn't, you just looked so cute."

"Sick pervert, hitting on young girls."

"What? Am I not allowed to comment now that I'm 26?"

Sakura chuckled. Leave it to her sensei to cheer her up, she didn't know what she'd do without him. She felt something wet hit her face. She looked up to see that it was starting rain. Both of them started running towards the house, which wasn't far from the park. By the time they got home they were soaking to the bone.

"Sakura-chan, you're back. I was so worried about you. Are you ok?"

"Of course I'm fine Naruto. Don't worry about it."

"If you say so."

"I'll just go and dry off in my room."

"Okay."

When she entered the room she didn't expect to see Neji waiting for her. He looked up to see her wet form enter the room.

"I see you bandaged your wound." Sakura commented, not knowing what else to say. Neji ignored her comment completely and stood up.

"Look I didn't want to cause you any trouble with the Uchiha. If you want I can sleep on the couch from now on. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable." Neji offered. He really did mean it. He didn't like causing people trouble .

Sakura looked at him shocked. She definitely didn't expect him to say that but this wasn't his fault so there was no point in making him move out.

"It wasn't your fault and I'm comfortable with having you around, so don't fret over it."

Neji nodded and than proceeded to ask.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, I am. Thanks for asking."

Did he care about her? She didn't know, this wasn't like the Neji from the chuunin exam. He seemed so much more open now. She could never tell with Neji how he felt.

CHAPTER END


	7. Blame

A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a long time but please forgive me. I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 7:

It had been two weeks since Sakura's and Sasuke's fight. And for that period of time Sakura had been giving Sasuke the cold shoulder whenever Sasuke said something to her. She had never been mad at Sasuke before, hurt by him but never mad at him. But enough was enough; she wasn't going to let him accuse her of being a slut and any other accusations that he made. Enough about her and Sasuke's relationship which was quite crappy right about now unlike her friendship with Neji. Even though he was fairly quiet, he still listened to her and even gave advice to her on some of the rare occasions. She was beginning to like having Neji around not that she minded him before.

She was quickly interrupted out of her reverie as Kakashi-sensei called out her name. Currently they were sitting on the dining table eating their breakfast which was made by her, come to think of it all the cooking was done by her. Oh well, its not like the guys could cook anyway except for instant ramen maybe.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura answered, as she looked up from her plate that was filled with pancake.

"We have a meeting with Tsunde-sama at 10:00, so all of you get ready after eating breakfast." Kakashi informed them. He didn't what Tsunde-sama had planned to tell them but it was obvious that it was something serious when she had called him last night.

After twenty minutes all of them were at the door ready to go. Sakura wasn't wearing her usual outfit instead she chose to wear a red V neck sweater, beige pants, black knee length coat, and her hair tied in a pony at the top of her head. Her other four companions chose to wear darker clothing except for Naruto. Neji was wearing a black turtleneck and pants contrasting with his pale white skin, and a beige jacket. Unlike Neji, Sasuke was adorned in a simple dark blue shirt along with beige pants and a blue jacket. Kakashi was wearing his usual Jounin outfit except today he was wearing a black jacket on top of it. Naruto was wearing an orange shirt, blue pants and a black jacket.

When they got there were surprised to see Lee and Tenten sitting in the Hokage's office, but

the Hokage herself was nowhere to be seen.

"My Sakura-chan, You look lovely as ever." Lee said dramatically as he kissed Sakura's delicate hand, his eyes sparkling with adoration. Neji and Sasuke glared murderously at Lee, who seemed to take no notice of the two boys.

"Thank you, Lee-san but really, you think too highly of me." Sakura spoke politely, hoping that

he would take the hint and let go of her hand but this only seemed to ignite him more.

"Oh My beautiful flower, You are too modest." Before anyone could blink, Lee had hugged Sakura. Her expression was of pure horror. Naruto and Tenten were ready to burst out laughing but only the deadly expressions on Sasuke and Neji's face kept them from doing so.

All Kakashi could do was sweatdrop as he watched the comical scene unfold in front of him.

"Let go of her, Lee." Neji practically growled.

"My eternal rival, do not tell me you have fallen in love with Sakura-chan and you wish to hold her." Lee stared seriously at Neji, who was ready to kill him. Naruto not able to take anymore burst out laughing clutching his stomach.

"Ha, Ha, Ha, thick-brows you are too much sometimes." Naruto managed to say in between laughs. Tenten finally took pity on Sakura who looked ready to suffocate in Lee's tight hug.

"You idiot, let go of her." Tenten kicked Lee hard on the head causing him to fall unconscious.

"Thanks Tenten. I owe you one." Sakura gave tenten a thankful look.

"You better."

"Thank you Tenten for that…sheer display of power." Kakashi cleared his throat." Now everyone take a seat before the Hokage comes."

Couple of minutes later they were seated in the Hokage's office waiting for her arrival. Sakura was sitting in between Neji and Sasuke (whom she ignored completely), Kakashi sitting to Neji's right; Naruto sitting to Sasuke's left, Tenten sitting on Kakashi's right and Lee on her right. No one dared to utter a single word except Naruto as Tsunde-sama entered the room taking her usual seat behind the desk.

"Where were you oba-san?" Naruto spoke loudly breaking the silence. Everyone just sweatdropped wondering how stupid could Naruto get. Tsunade merely glared at him not in the mood to argue with blond boy in seated in front of her.

"Now that everyone is here, I'll explain why I called you here."

"For the past two weeks we've been investigating Sakura's parents murder. It seems our hard work has paid off because we have found the culprit behind this murder." Tusunade stopped to see Sakura expression, which was one of fear and nervousness. Maybe she wasn't ready to face the truth yet but she had to find it sooner or later so now was a good time as ever.

" It's the Sound, precisely Orichimaru."

_Tsunade-sama, Do you think Sakura can handle this?_ Kakashi thought. He was hoping that Tsunade-sama knew what she was doing.

Sasuke felt Sakura's frail body go rigid as Tsunade-sama uttered the name of her parent's murderer.

"Why?" Sakura managed to whisper.

"Uchiha Sasuke, that's why?" Tsunade-sama answered simply as though Sasuke didn't even exist in the room.

"Orichimaru needs a body that he can inhabit. And what better than an Uchiha. Since Uchiha Itachi was too strong for him he decided to target the younger Uchiha, Sasuke. Because Sasuke wasn't willing to come to him he thought maybe killing someone close to him would do the job. That's when he targeted Sakura but when he was about to go and attack her, her parent's protected her and they were murdered. And that's the whole story." She finished of explaining.

Even though Sasuke looked like his usual calm self, inside his mind was swirling with all kind of thoughts. He felt a rush of emotions surge through him, mainly guilt, anger, regret and self-loathing. _It's my entire fault. Everything is, I wasn't strong enough to stop Itachi from killing the clan. I wasn't strong enough to defeat Orichimaru. If I were as strong as aniki, Sakura's parents would have never died; Orichimaru's would have never come after Sakura in the first place. _This was all Sasuke could think about. It was because of him, Sakura's parents died. No matter how he hid his true self from other people he could never hide it from himself, the person who has nightmares of loosing everyone again, being abandoned, but most

of all being alone and hated. Because when he was alone, every single moment he was reminded of the day when his beloved brother killed the whole clan. The brother he once loved and wanted to be like, was the same brother he wants to kill today and he would. His brother was the cause of all his grief, pain and torture. Itachi would pay dearly for what he did to

his clan, Sasuke would make sure that he did. Nothing was going to get in the way of his revenge.

Sakura was trapped in her own cage of thoughts. It seemed that for the past two weeks Uchiha

Sasuke has been the cause of her grief but this was absolutely absurd. It was like he had taken a permanent job to be the source of her pain. But why him? God, Why did it have to be him? Couldn't it be anyone else, anyone, except him. The pure irony of the situation hit her like a bucket of cold water. Sasuke was the person she loved most, she loved everything about him, yet on the other hand she hated him for making her feel this way. No matter what she did she couldn't stop loving him even when he was the one who made her cry the most. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to blame him for her parent's death because than everything would be perfect. She would able to hate him than and he won't have to deal with her being annoying. After all, she was nothing but a nuisance to him. But she couldn't blame him because deep down she knew that the only one at fault was Orichimaru.

"I'm not finished." Tsunade-sama's voice forced Sakura back to reality. For a second she had forgotten where she was.

"The real reason why I called you here today was to assign you a mission." She explained.

"All six of you will be under the command of Kakashi. Your mission is to hunt down Orichimaru and destroy him." Her brown eyes scanned the seven ninjas; all of their expressions mirrored each other. Surprise and Shock.

Chap End.

Finally I finished this chapter. I hope this chapter satisfied all of you for now. I'll try to update as soon as possible. And please review.


End file.
